The agreement establishes a standard for product package outlines, pin function definitions and optical and electrical characteristics. Agere, Alcatel Optronics and Nortel Networks will independently develop and market compact EDFAs based on this standard, ensuring that optical systems manufacturers have a choice among compatible sources.

The three companies are expected to manufacture compact EDFAs that conform to specified packaging dimensions and pin functionality and that meet or exceed specified optical and electrical characteristics. The specifications will be made available shortly.

Compact EDFAs offer condensed, small form factor packaging with high flexibility at low cost, said Nortel. They target single-channel or narrow-band applications from the metro edge to ultralong haul and are typically used when a quantity of channels are split off of the main networking path to a switch elsewhere in the network.